With two new faces in the Minnesota Twins front office, look for the team to make a splash during the offseason.
New Chief Baseball Officer Derek Falvey and General Manager Thad Levine said during their introductory press conference that they’d like to add some veteran leadership around the Twins’ young core of talented players.
So with that in mind, here’s a list of 5 free agents who might be able to help the Twins.
Jason Castro, C, Houston Astros
Castro, 29, could fill a definite need for the Twins. He has some decent power from the left side of the plate hitting 11 home runs with 32 RBIs last season.
MLB Trade Rumors.com calls him a “well regarded pitch framer.”
According to the Pioneer Press’ Mike Berardino, the Twins were planning to meet with Castro’s representatives on Wednesday. But he is likely to be highly sought after.
Twins Daily estimates that Castro would fetch a contract in the neighborhood of 3 years and $21 million.
Rich Hill, SP, Dodgers
Hill is probably the closest thing in the free agent class to an ace. But at 37, Hill is just 38-28 during his 12-year MLB career.
Hill was 12-5 this season between the A’s and Dodgers and pitched well during the postseason for LA. He will probably be looking to turn that success into a short-term deal with a relatively high cash value. Twins Daily predicts he’ll end up in the 2-year, $36 million range.
Hill also may be highly sought after by clubs looking to compete. NJ.com thinks Hill should be one of the Yankees’ top targets. The Dodgers may also be in the mix.
Edinson Volquez, SP, Kansas City
Volquez isn’t coming off his best season, so a team might be able to get him on a bargain.
Kansas City declined making a qualifying offer to Volquez following his 10-11 season and 5.37 ERA. His numbers weren’t great, but there aren’t a lot of top pitching options on the market and the Twins are in need of quality starting pitching.
A two-year deal in the $18 million dollar range could make the 33-year-old a bargain if he returns to his 2014 and 2015 form when he won 13 games each season.
Mike Napoli, 1B, Cleveland
This is a name you won’t want to ignore. While the Twins have Joe Mauer at first base, they could use more power from the right side of the plate.
Napoli hit 34 home runs with 101 RBIs for Cleveland this season.
The Indians decided not to make a qualifying offer to Napoli, who by the way just happened to play for the same team that Falvey comes form. He isn’t likely to come cheap though.
Travis Wood, RP Chicago Cubs
Like the starters, the Twins bullpen is also needs to be retooled.
Twins Daily says Wood is one of the best left-handed relievers on the free agent market. Left-handed hitters hit just .128 off of him and he finished the season 4-0 with a 2.95 ERA with 47 strikeouts in 61 innings.
